Not a word wasted in this romp through recent US history as lived by Roy Boehm. Boehm comes to value several wise men, as well as a few women, who shaped his identity and consequently his world views: a Buddist Monk, a Catholic priest, a Viet Cong commander to name a few. Magnificent piece of military literature that is not about the nature of war. Boehm speaks about the opportunities and missed opportunities of American actions toward peacemaking. Boehm argues that wars are now fought limitedly and therefore must use Maoist principles. Unless America wants to lose these foreign confrontations, these must be fought with the methods adopted by the SEALs Beohm founded. Co-written by Sasser, but this book has the stamp of a superior and distinctive mind beginning on page one. ( )

Biography of the founder of the Navy SALS -- it is one man's "lead from the front" mentality and results that made the program what it is -- it is the same internal organizational forces that have kept it from reaching it's full potential -- Boehm lived the full history, from WWII through varying progression of UDT teams to Vietnam training of their SEAL equivalent -- he was commissioned by JFK to build the first SEALS, whereupon he trained them covertly at first -- the original missions were snoop and poop ventures to Cuba re: the missile crisis and the Bay of Pigs invasion -- perhaps the most interesting tales involve his Vietnam encounters with Minh, the housekeeper, the bathhouse, and his own troops. ( )